News Wrapup: 1/5/17

The re-release of Mario Kart 8 on the Switch has been well received, debuting at the number one spot in the UK. Other new games like Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 and Little Nightmares came in at 2 and 4 respectively according to research by GfK. This is the first time that a Nintendo game has been number one since Pokemon White back in 2011.

Opinion: Mario Kart 8 was pretty great but I feel like not as many people played it the first time around due to the Wii U under-performing. While I’m happy that more people are getting it I can’t help but feel that this speaks to the dearth of Switch games at the moment. I mean everyone already has Zelda, what else was everyone going to buy?

Martin Pezlar and Ivan Buchta have returned to Greece to face charges laid back in 2012 where they were arrested under suspicion of espionage. The two men were employees of Bohemia Interactive at the time and claimed that they were photographing the island of Limnos, where Arma 3 takes place. They had been allegedly photographing military installations. After negotiating a release back to Prague in 2013, the men have now returned to face their charges in court.

Opinion: This was a very interesting story at the time and the men had faced punishments of up to 20 years in prison. On one hand, games are pushing for photo realistic graphics for accurate representation of areas and this is standard procedure in many cases. On the other hand, Greece more than likely has a right to protect its military bases and taking such photos would likely get you in trouble all around the world. It is possible to just go on Google Maps and find the bases but if it’s that simple why didn’t these men do that? It is a tough case and I will be following with interest.